A clogged drain can ruin your day. While it’s possible to clear the clog and restore your plumbing to normal, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
All you have to do to prevent clogged drains is to learn what should and shouldn’t go down the sink. Here are some quick maintenance tips to help keep your drain clear.
- Never pour grease down the drain. It may be liquid when it’s hot, but once grease cools, it becomes an impenetrable sludge in your plumbing. Pour cooking grease into a can or old cardboard milk container and dispose of it in the trash.
- Dispose of food particles down your sink sparingly. Even if you have a garbage disposal, it’s better to scrape food into the trash before rinsing your plate. To prevent your garbage disposal from jamming, be extra careful about not putting bones, fruit pits, tea leaves, fibrous foods, coffee grounds or gelatin down the sink. These belong in the trash or on your compost pile.
- Never pour paint, paint thinner or other chemicals down the drain. Even shower drains and utility sinks suffer from this abusive behavior.
- Place a screen over kitchen and tub drain openings to catch hair, soap, food particles and other debris that can clog the drain. Make sure to regularly empty what the screen collects into the trash.
- Run hot water down the kitchen sink after heavy use. This helps push food particles further down the pipe instead of sticking and creating a clog.
- Once a week as part of your weekly cleaning schedule, pour boiling water down all of the drains in your home. The heat helps remove mild buildup and acts as a preventative measure against larger, more difficult clogs.
- Pour one-half cup of baking soda down your drain and follow it with hot water. Baking soda acts as a natural cleaning agent and odor absorber to keep your drain smelling fresh.
For more information about how to prevent clogged drains, please contact CCAC. We proudly serve Coastal Bend residents with quality and integrity.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Corpus Christi, Texas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about preventing drain clogs and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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